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Living The Marketers and Founders Journey

You constantly hear how bad stress is for you: it’s damaging your health, jeopardizing your relationships, and hurting your performance. While these risks are real, recent research is showing that work strain, when managed correctly, can actually have a positive impact on productivity and performance. So how can you take the stress you thought was killing you and make it constructive?

What the Experts Say
Stress is unavoidable. “We live in a world of ongoing worry, change, and uncertainty. You have to get used to it,” says Justin M, an expert in the field of C-suite talent evaluation and the author of [Blanked]. “Stress is an inevitable part of work and life, but the effect of stress upon us is far from inevitable,” says Shawn A, an expert in positive psychology and the founder of [Blanked]. Both Achor and Menkes agree that altering your approach to stress can yield positive effects. “Stress can be good or bad depending on how you use it,” says Achor. In fact, how you manage pressures can distinguish you as a leader and give you a career advantage. Here are five principles to follow.

Company founders would seem to be a natural fit for change management programs. They are persuaders and visionaries who are hardwired to perceive opportunities and seize them quickly. Unfortunately, when founders attempt to apply these skills to their own organizations, they usually aren’t as successful. The power imbalance with front-line workers is too intense to facilitate candid feedback, and often the founder has his or her own biases and ingrained thoughts about the company that are impossible to dislodge. If founders are serious about change management they must let someone else, preferably an outsider, facilitate it.

Company founders would seem to be a natural fit for change management programs. They are persuaders and visionaries who perceive opportunities and seize them quickly. From airlines to autos, and from TVs to taxis, individual entrepreneurs have upended one industry after another. When channeled successfully, these attributes represent the lifeblood of entrepreneurship and market disruption.

Unfortunately, when founders attempt to apply these skills to their own organizations, they usually aren’t as successful: It seems the industry disrupter’s virtues are the organizational change manager’s vices. Characteristics that are necessary to lead an organization through significant transitions — traits such as patience, consensus building, and adherence to strict processes — don’t always come naturally to the best entrepreneurs.

I was reminded of these challenges at a recent portfolio company offsite, when a founder friend confided how he’d been struggling to launch an organizational change process with his team. He expressed frustration that the people who would most benefit from constructive change returned only blank stares when he asked them questions such as “What would make your job easier?” and “What should we change around here?”

The genuine desire to improve employees’ work lives and the company’s performance notwithstanding, the most original idea was the heartwarming but impractical suggestion that they should get a company pet. We talked further about his process, and for the most part the founder was doing everything right: His goals were straightforward and sensible — do things smarter and make employees’ experiences more fulfilling. He scheduled discussions regularly and consistently communicated how much he cared about employee culture and well-being. He included all the company’s functional areas and solicited input from levels throughout the firm’s hierarchy.

There was just one problem: He was the wrong person for the job. In every case I’ve observed, the mix of founder personality traits and the power asymmetry between leaders and their employees is a nearly insurmountable barrier to constructive ideation and candid dialogue. Without these, I believe change management is impossible.This isn’t surprising once you consider what employees are up against in a change management situation. Sit any employee in a room with a founder, instruct them to engage in a candid discussion about how to improve the company’s operations, and that person’s heart rate will accelerate, their blood pressure will rise, and their hands will become clammy. Toss in some office politics and career management interests, and you’ll produce the most banal feedback imaginable.

So how do founders achieve the results they’re seeking if, for probably the very first time, they aren’t the lead resource impacting their companies? The answer is, they can’t. Moreover, even if they could, they shouldn’t. If founders are serious about change management they must let someone else, preferably an outsider, facilitate it.

I have heard every founder objection to the idea that they should hand over such an important process to a stranger. The most common is “No one understands our business as well as I do, so how could a newcomer help transform it?”

However, this objection conflates a company’s unique competitive traits with the organizational capabilities necessary for reimagining the enterprise. And there is an industry of professionals with decades of specialized training, exposure to competitive scenarios, and, most important, an outsider’s perspective that exists solely to do the latter. For this group, not knowing the specifics of a particular industry is a key asset.

Change management experts may not know the nuances of a given industry, but they offer transformation-minded founders four proficiencies that are more valuable:

Establishing objectivity. Few senior executives recognize their unwillingness to adopt new ideas and creative problem solving, and, as a result, personal itineraries often complicate the transformation process. In contrast, the right facilitator can create and enforce a space to objectively explore what’s possible without leaving anyone behind.

Maintaining process integrity. An accomplished facilitator enforces rules and ensures that the team tracks toward its original purpose. They’re especially adept at this because, unlike an employee of the company, the facilitator has only one job: to run the process. In contrast, any employee who is participating in the change process while performing the facilitator role is expected to both provide creative input and guarantee process integrity. In that case, neither job is executed well.

Executing proven conflict resolution protocols. Reexamining every previous decision a company has made can surface longstanding disagreements. If these conflicting positions emerge during a meeting, all forward progress will cease. A qualified facilitator is trained to handle these situations and move past them. The average founder is not.

Guaranteeing follow-up, implementation, and accountability. The cliché that “If everyone is responsible for following up, then no one is” is especially apt when ensuring participants stand by their commitments to modify the way things are done after the initial meetings conclude. A single person with no stake in a specific outcome is an essential resource to capture the learnings from each step in a change management process.

Change is never easy. It requires the time to implement, the patience to discuss, and the willingness to have productive disagreements. Although most founders will do anything for their company’s success, sometimes continued success requires that they hand over the reins in order to help the organization evolve.

***This content was originally written by different author. We are not endorsing anyone or any entity. We are just sharing.
***For further assistant and to get a free marketing consultation, contact Contact Us Today

Thomas G, 72, is a multimillionaire, but he is still nervous about money. “I have more money than I had ever imagined, but I still worry — do I have enough, if I live longer than I thought?”
When Thomas G was 17, he worked as a clerk on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and put $10 a week into an account at Irving Bank. “That was my discipline, my savings,” Mr. Gallagher said. “Back then, the goal was to have enough money to buy Christmas presents.”

Mr. G, who is retired from his position as vice chairman of [Blanked] Bank, is a member of [Blanked], a network of over 570 members who collectively manage more than $50 billion worth of personal investable assets.

At age 72, he is a multimillionaire. Even so, “I still feel, to some extent, that I don’t have enough money,” he said. “Emotionally, I don’t come from money; I got very lucky on Wall Street. I’ve been dealing with a myriad of psychological issues since I retired. I have more money than I had ever imagined, but I still worry — do I have enough, if I live longer than I thought?”

The psychology of wealth is knotty. On the surface, being wealthy can make people believe they have more control over their lives, but it can also control them emotionally, said Olivia M, a psychotherapist in Washington who specializes in money issues and is the author of [Blanked]

This is for the founders, entrepreneurs, freelancers, smb, marketers, consultants, etc. that are constantly facing the endless challenges and changes in the marketing world. For the entrepreneur who has to compete locally and also globally. For the sales manager and marketing manager who somehow has to produce financial results in the face of incredible odds.

And the trend is that target b2b customers are constantly being presented with more choices, lead generation will get tedious, qualifying leads will be faster with AI, not every marketing tactic and strategy is guaranteed to work, powerful platform companies like Facebook / Google are leveraging their dominance,

It really can be overwhelming operating a business and trying to grow and keep sales and marketing complexity at bay.I personally see the intensity, stress and desperation through the founders actions via our founders community. I see it in my mailbox. I see the urgency in the digital ads. I even saw it in a report by Adobe called, “Digital Distress: What Keeps Marketers Up at Night?”

So I decided to put together a quick guide to help b2b marketers and founders reduce the overwhelming nature of sales and marketing. My ultimate suggestion is for founders and their businesses to partner with sales & marketing service providers or hire more fast-learners because S&M is just going to get more aggressive, intense, complicated, sophisticated, and overwhelming.

It’s the new year and every business is urgently trying get a good start or to reinvent their tactics. It’s almost like watching a pack of lionesses plotting hunting tactics. Some lionesses will use circumstances around them to think outside the box and some will not build the courage. The fact is if you don’t master the hunting and gathering game quicker, your Lion pride will die. So immersing yourself in diverse entrepreneur community or support network that can help you: get wiser, acquire better tools, acquire better allies, collaborate, etc is crucial. I bet you will agree eating just crumbs sucks.

I get up everyday wanting to help founders of all shapes and sizes grow, achieve, and acquire financial and / or personal wealth. Most importantly also help them give back to the less fortunate. I’m currently helping to build a top notch and globally admired community around founders and it is based on offering deeper-safe-environment all for a modest monthly subscription membership. There are thousands of founders from Boston, San Jose, Los Angeles, Vegas, Phoenix, Chicago, Buffalo, Austin,, Vancouver, Israel, India, UK, United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Brazil, Kenya, South Africa, Australia, China…so on.

In a hyper competitive environments great Founders, Venture Capitalist, Angels are just trying to get that edge. The reality is competitive edges are not free. For example, Rich people hire financial advisers and wealth management experts not because they can’t teach themselves to do it for themselves. They hire because they build a team around themselves to anticipate the future ups and downs, plan for it, connect them to great investment opportunities, manage tax obligations, address legal concerns, etc. They basically pay for value not cost.

This year we show Founders Under 40™ Group members and the general public our detail vision for a Founders world we envision. But first this content is to inspire you gutsy individuals / founders that really want to burn the world without burning the house down.

It’s a message to founders to stop playing the stupid games that are not helping anyone accept the very very few at the top who some cases have lost touch with their fellow man. “#Timesup “ is nice pursuit but why don’t we break it for good and replace it.

Would you agree with me that you can decide you really like someone before you are consciously aware you are into them? For example, you see a pretty-curvy-7’ 2 woman with a beautiful smile, bitching eyes, and wearing a sexy tight red dress that hugs all her curves from top-to-bottom at a New Years Eve party. If you really find her more attractive than other women, chances are you will disregard any other woman. Even if it turns out the less attractive woman, you call your wife, would be better suited for you at the “after party”.

When it comes to business, specifically b2b, it comes down to almost about the same biases. In the business world though there are many more preexisting biases that are under the surface. And those biases influence concerns and criteria for decision makers. Such concerns and criteria are: Cost,Payment terms, Price, Discounts, Alternatives, Combination, Establishment, Technology, Process, Contracts, Negotiations, Rules / Processes, etc. Those are just some.

So this insight is designed to answer the questions that founders and businesses wonder about but never bother to ask: “Where are the B2B biases?”,“Is this Industry filled with biases?“, “Does our sales and marketing tactics benefit from biased decision making?” “How do you get on the right side of the biases if possible?”

CONTENT SPONSOR: BJ Mannyst + Founders Under 40™ Group currently serves founders and b2b around the world with creating / improving their service marketing and helping them connect with other founders.

To learn how to handle and deal with b2b biases, pickup Full eBook Version or contact myself. It has many tools and suggestions to help discover the hidden biases. It is basically a way to find out why your clients buy from you and why some prospects avoid you and your business.

MY BOOKS & RECOMMENDED BOOKS FOR FOUNDERS

I remember when Bill Gates was everyone's’ business hero. When Microsoft was more sexy than Amazon or Apple. Now
we live in a world where Jeff Bezos, who was a son to a teen mom.
(Article: How Amazon founder Jeff Bezos went from the son of a teen mom
to the world's richest person )is kicking ass online and planning to kick-ass offline. He
might be a white-straight-guy in America but that’s no reason not to
learn from him. I recently came across several list of great books Jeff
Bezos, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, Daymond John, Jack Ma,
Hamdi Ulukaya, Morris Chang, Jensen Huang, Muhammad Yunus, Sam Zell,
Sheryl Sandberg, Martha Stewart, etc recommend so I’ve decided to
share over 50+ books plus my recommendations. You can learn from anyone
even if they don’t look or act like you. I have personally read a
quarter of them and I keep rereading most.

It’s almost that time of year, when you have a little more time to assess your founder life. I will admit you really almost have to force a smile to enjoy this Christmas or any religious holiday.It has been a tough year for women, men of color, mix race, LGBTA, Muslims, Jews, Syrians, working class, some white men, etc. You don’t know whether to be fucking glad to be alive or be fucking praying for a skin-color-and gender-religion-changing device for next year. It has been so brutal that people wish Oprah Winfrey or Mark Cuban would run for president. Honestly the title or this content has nothing against Donald or straight-white -male founders, it’s about giving others the courage to pursue their dreams, persevere, give back and avoid being left behind.

I & Founders Under 40™ Group are proud to welcome all founders of all shapes and sizes. We love everyone working on positive and constructive ventures while facing the universal challenges of life. So while I & the Founders Under 40™ Group team were trying to figure out what to offer Founders this up coming Holidays and New Year.

A constant on our minds, is the fact that it's being hell for a lot of people hopefully we can all come together and grow together.

A user is define as a person that uses someone selfishly or unethically. My experience on LinkedIn and every social media for while has sort of become more and more about people chasing trophies. What I mean is people think relationship and connection at an event, LinkedIn or other is just get the milk and kill the cow. It’s basically get what you can get from them whether: a job, money, sale, advice, introduction, status, sex, popularity, coolness, etc and disregard any mutual benefit. I’m sure many of you receive endless invitation to connect and endless cold emails on LinkedIn. If you are doing it with an unhealthy shot-term thinking, you will regret it professionally and financially because no one like’s being used.

So due to the numerous amount of people I meet everyday, which is bound to increase with time, I wanted to help other founders spot shortsighted-selfish-contacts from those willing to invest time and effort for the long-term picture.

These tips can apply to people you know very well, just met, or never met. It can apply on LinkedIn, FaceBook, Twitter, dates, relationships, family, friends, employees, investors, clients, spammers, fraudsters, etc The key is Just be very aware what you do, say, both online & offline. And realize that a few contacts are only after what they can get from you or what you can do for them. Below are some great tips. Enjoy!

It was a month till Christmas Day and all the businesses were urgently trying to get their sleds up the hill so they can enjoy the bounty of the season and the slide down the beautiful-snow-covered hill.
They wanted the site traffic, the foot traffic, the joy, the smiles and especially wanted every type of shopper to shop, and shop. . .to spend and spend so their business can make investors very happy and employees happy as well. But the poor just have to be thankful.

Taking into consideration today's trends and the 2050 world, I & BJ MANNYST team developed some quick thoughts to consider while you plan your b2b marketing, general marketing for 2018 - 2050.

This guide will help founders, service businesses, service providers, sme, smb, freelancers and multinationals think about b2b future.

It has more than ten ideas about the 2050 FUTURE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Plus invaluable key takeaways so you, your team, or organization can adjust your strategies or tactics for 2018 - 2050. Or at least start planning for the future.

There are moments in our day that we founders sometimes are on the fence about someone or a business. We usually don't know all the reasons, it could be from experience, rumors, comments, the look and feel of a business, their nationality, their ethnicity, gender, etc. And the most messed up thing is that most people will not tell you the reason they wouldn't buy from you. So you are left to figure it out on your on. However the most common reason is lack of trust or credibility.

There was a time a old friend of my was trying to replace his broken sun glasses which he had spent almost five hundred US dollar on but he was eager not to spend a lot on a replacement eye glasses. So he decided to go online to buy glasses from a specialist online retailer. She first looked at a lot of providers by googling “online sun glasses”. There were providers advertising like crazy. One had a very ancient, 90’s website like the first Amazon website. Another one had a modern looking site but didn't have a secure site. The third one had everything and they had a special offer for new customers which encourage my friend to take a chance. Till today she’s gone through several pairs and she is still a loyal customer of the third site.